New thriller/mystery novel set in Gastonia

Friday

Jan 24, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 24, 2014 at 2:43 PM

Andrea Honaker

Gaston County residents will find familiar locations in the text of Wiley Cash’s new book. “This Dark Road to Mercy” is primarily set in Gastonia, which isn’t surprising considering Cash lived here until he was 18 years old.

The book’s official release is Tuesday, and Cash will appear at a launch event that night at Books-A-Million in Gastonia.

The literary thriller/mystery is set in 1998 against the backdrop of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire’s infamous homerun race. The “Southern road novel” is about a washed-up, ex-minor league baseball player named Wade who kidnaps his two daughters from a Gastonia foster home and attempts to leave his past behind. Readers will follow him as he takes the girls to Myrtle Beach, Asheville, Charleston, S.C., and St. Louis, but they’ll also see local landmarks such as Tony’s Ice Cream, Lineberger Park and Sims Legion Park.

“I hope people in Gastonia will like it,” said Cash, who just moved to Wilmington after teaching at Bethany College in W.Va. for a few years. “I hope they’ll find something of home in it, and maybe something of their own experience, and the excitement of seeing the place you’re from in print. I know it’s exciting for me.”

The story is told from the perspective of three characters: 12-year-old Easter, the oldest daughter, who is very smart and world-wise; Brady, a former police officer and the girls’ court-appointed guardian; and Pruitt, a bounty hunter looking for Wade.

The idea for “This Dark Road to Mercy” stemmed from Cash’s personal experience. As a child, an elderly couple in his church was raising two little girls in the foster care system. The girls were reunited with their mother, only to be murdered by her boyfriend.

“This stayed with me my whole life, what happened to these little girls that never had a chance,” Cash said.

This novel follows the author’s successful debut, called “A Land More Kind than Home.” That New York Times best-selling book was set in Madison County, near where Cash went to college at UNC Asheville. His third work, which he’s writing now, is about the 1929 labor industry strike at Gastonia’s Loray Mill. Cash said the North Carolina settings of his books stem from the homesickness he experienced as a graduate student in Louisiana.

“I was trying to recreate this place that I missed,” he said. “I found that I had a lot to say about North Carolina, and I didn’t expect that.”

NOVEL LAUNCH What: The official launch of Wiley Cash’s new novel, “This Dark Road to Mercy” When: 7 p.m. Tuesday Where: Books-A-Million, E. Franklin Blvd., Gastonia Details: Cash will read from the book, sign copies and answer questions. Cash has partnered with the Gaston Literacy Council to raise awareness for local literacy projects, and attendees can give donations and receive information on volunteering.